What To Wear During Your Company Video Shoot

On a recent pre-production planning session, an office of about a dozen staff members questioned aloud, “what should we wear during the video shoot?” One woman asked how much makeup she should wear. The company owner wandered to the office fish tank and notice the algae growing. Yes, sometimes the corporate video shoot day can feel like school picture day. Like parents, you want your baby (now your brand) to look pristine. And you also want a quality image for your investment. Much of this is open to your interpretation. But let’s run through some basics about what to wear in videos.

What to wear on the day of your video shoot

Wear what makes you comfortable and best reflects your business and/or service. Do not wear clothing that is white, sleeveless, or has busy patterns. If you wear ties, pick out your favorite tie. Wear what gives you confidence. A blouse with your favorite neckline is recommended, because the neck and shoulder area will be included on any shot where you appear on camera. Vibrant and complimentary colors like purple or green traditionally work well. Just don’t wear green if your TV crew is using a green screen! Pair your favorite jewelry with your favorite neckline. Just make sure your jewelry does not make noise. The Matty D. Media crew has seen (and heard) earrings that clank into each other and creating unnecessary noise on the microphone.

Should I Wear Glasses During a Video Shoot?

This answer goes back to the advice above. If wearing glasses makes you more comfortable, go with it. Your video crew will try its best to manage reflections that happen with the glass. Different lighting techniques can help avoid reflections. If your clients are accustomed to seeing you in glasses, we’d recommend keeping that consistency.

Avoid Busy Patterns Creating a “Moiré Effect”

You may be asking, “what’s too busy.” When it comes to clothing for television and video, this choice may have less to do about the stylistic choice. It may actually create a technical error with the cameras. Clothing (or any fine detail) that is too busy creates what’s called the moiré effect. Effectively, the pattern may be too busy for the camera to process it. We have had clients come to a video shoot thinking that subtle lines on their dress shirt wouldn’t qualify here. However, in the end, those lines crammed together did cause a moire effect. You’ve probably seen this technical error happen on television. It looks like an optical allusion. Lines on a shirt create a blob of waving activity. This is what the camera outputs when it cannot process those details. Below are some examples of clothing that caused this effect. The faces have been removed to protect the innocent. You’ll notice both the female and the male are wearing a similarly “busy” lined shirt.

An interview subject tempts fate with a shirt that may cause the dreaded moire effect on video.

The moire effect could could happen on a repetitive detail such as this one.

How To Prepare For On-Camera Interviews

Appearances do matter. However, what professionals say in the video can actually be more important. Besides, your interview commentary may become a voiceover in the final video while the viewer sees action footage of your company at work. Before stressing over how to appear, give some thought to what you’d like to say. Communicate with your video producer about the types of questions that will be asked. And if there’s a shared list of questions or scripted material, request seeing that first.

Interior designer wears brown tones in solid patterns during a Matty D. Media video shoot. Her neckline strikes a great balance between layering designs while not overwhelming the camera with busy patterns. Click here to watch the original video.

Matty D. Media is a video production company serving small businesses in the Kansas City area. Click here to join our monthly e-mail list with video production tips. (We will not try and sell you stuff).